The first
Director
General, Major
General (retd)
Norman McLean,
having been
seconded from
the Guyana
Police Force
served from
1974 to 1979
and he was
succeeded by
his deputy,
Colonel
Desmond
Roberts who
served until
1981. I was
asked to take
over command
from him for
an initial
period of two
years. Those 2
years were
extended to 4
years and when
President
Burnham died,
his successor
President Hugh
Desmond Hoyte
asked that I
remain with
the Guyana
National
Service. I
demitted the
Office of
Director
General when I
was assigned
to the Office
of Chief of
Staff of the
Guyana Defence
Force in 1990.
My 9 years
(1981-1990) in
command of the
GNS were some
of the most
fulfilling
periods of my
career. I was
given a free
hand by
President
Burnham

Former
President
Linden
Forbes
Sampson
Burnham

to
make whatever
changes were
necessary to
revitalize the
service, to
reorganize and
redirect its
efforts in
pursuit of its
mandate. I took over
command at a
time when
financial
allocations
were already
scarce and
when there
were great
challenges in
the political,
socio-economic
and security
environment of
Guyana.There was
constructive
as well as
destructive
criticism of
the GNS: from
objections to
the strong
military
component of
the initial 2
weeks or 3
months basic
training; the
obligatory
nature of the
University of
Guyana student
pioneer 2
months or 12
months
programmes; of
stress in the
interpersonal
relations
between staff
and pioneers;
of the
productivity
and viability
of the
enterprises
managed by the
GNS-large
scale
mechanized
agricultural
activities at
Kimbia;
quarrying at
Itabu and
Teperu; wood
products at
Konawaruk;
garment-making
and artisan
skills
training at

Tumatumari;
printing and
publishing at
the Industrial
Site;
gold-mining in
the Puruni and
Potaro; of
the efficiency
of food
self-sufficiency
activities at
all training
centres
including
Kimbia in the
Berbice River,
Koriri in the
Canje river,
Papaya , Port
Kaituma and
Arakaka in the
North West
District, and
of the
effectiveness
of the career
guidance,
counseling and
placement
methodology
for graduates
from the 18
months pioneer
military and
vocational
training
programmes.
There were
concerns
expressed as
to the impact
of the
psycho-social,
remedial and
vocational
education
programmes on
the juveniles
remanded for 2
to 3 years at
the New
Opportunity
Corps at
Onderneeming;
and of the
involvement of
schools in the
Young Brigade
and National
Cadet Corps
programmes and
in weekend
camping
activities at
Camp Cocos,
Hope Estate.

These
criticisms had
to be taken
seriously by
the
Directorate of
the GNS and
the lessons
learnt used as
a platform to
initiate a
transformational
strategy in
reshaping and
retooling were
necessary in
order to chart
the way
forward.

Implicit
in the
strategy was
the need to
achieve the
buy-in of all
sectors of the
society to
evolve a truly
national
institution as
opposed to
what some saw
myopically, as
a third force
along with the
Army and
People’s
Militia, to
militarise the
society and to
exercise power
and control
for political
purposes.

Those
commentators
and political
analysts other
than those
with leanings
towards the
Burnham
administration,
who have
written about
the Guyana
National
Service, have
tended in the
main to place
more emphasis
on the
military,
drill square
bashing and
the privations
experienced by
student
pioneers away
from the
creature
comforts of
home. Others
have based
their
interpretations
on anecdotal
information
without the
benefit of
personal
involvement
and in an
abstract
setting devoid
of the
dynamics of
pioneering,
adventure, and
discovery of
hidden
reserves of
physical
stamina and
mental resolve
among those
who stayed the
course.

Acknowledging
the
National
Service?

It is also
understandable
that some
hearing my
reflections
may consider
that this is a
biased account
because of my
relationship
with the
service for 9
of its 18
years of
existence.

I
do believe
however, in
that Vision of
President
Burnham as
outlined in
the 1973 State
Paper of the
GNS-promoting
the concept
of the new
Guyana Man and
Woman,
oriented
towards their
role in
nation-building,
equipped with
the
appropriate
skills, fired
with
pioneering
zeal and
enthusiasm,
working
collaboratively
in a spirit of
mutual respect
with persons
of all
ethnicities,
religious and
cultural
affiliations,
carving out
viable
settlements
away from the
coast,
developing the
lines of
communication
and
infrastructure
to facilitate
access,
courageously
defending our
territory
against the
would be
invader,
supporting our
hinterland
communities
with basic
services, and
developing
centres of
enlightenment
that would-be
catalysts for
broad based
national
development.
In my opinion,
such a Vision
cannot be
faulted in the
context of the
national,
regional and
global
environment at
that time. I
would also be
bold enough to
posit that
such a Vision
has relevance
today… 35
years later.

Yes, there
were
weaknesses and
limitations,
as in any
extraordinary
initiative
which is
charting new
pathways to
development.
In any
objective
analysis of
the impact of
the GNS, what
we must seek
to do, rather
than throwing
away the baby
with the bath
water, is to
honestly and
transparently
engage in
broad based
consultations
that draw from
the
experiences of
our National
Service, and
its
predecessors-
the Guyana
Youth Corps at
based at
Tumatumari and
the Farm Corps
based at Wauna,
and with
evaluation of
the current
programmes
–the National
Centre for
Educational
Resource
Development,
NCERD’s Mass
Literacy
Programme and
Fast Track
Initiative,
the Youth
Entrepreneurial
Skills
Training, YEST,
the Youth
Business
Trust, the
Work Study
Programmes and
the
Reintegration
of Juvenile
Offenders into
Society
project,
identify those
models and
those lessons
which will be
helpful to us
in a national
consensus
approach to
problem
solving, as we
seek to
grapple with
the
multiplicity
of challenges
facing us our
42nd years as
an independent
Nation and
38th year as a
Republic.

It was with a
feeling of
déjà vu that I
read an
article
written by
Lennox
Bernard, Head
of the UWI
School of
Continuing
Studies, and
published in
the Trinidad &
Tobago’s
Newsday paper
of Sunday,
June 8, 2008,
on the topic
‘National
Service- a
growing
imperative’
and I quote;
“There is a
growing need
to consider a
model of
national
service that
would ensure
that all
citizens,
regardless of
gender and
economic
status, give
to society
their time,
skills and
expertise. I
know the
concept as
presented in
the late 1980s
conjured up in
the minds of
some sectors
of the T&T
population,
images of boot
camps or of
young people
herded into
military
driven camps
and one
detractor went
as far as
suggesting
that the
subtle
intention was
to
“douglarise”
the
population. I
contend that
there was
insufficient
clarity of
purpose to
appease those
anxious minds.
Two decades
later the
concept is
important more
than ever as
we face the
onslaught of a
form of crass
individualism,
with “self”
the only
concern, and
with “mother
Trinidad and
Tobago” only
important for
what she can
give to us.
There is
already an
abundance of
greed,
selfishness,
laziness, lust
for power and
recognition,
and
distrust”.
“Francis
Fukuyama
(1996) argued
that with the
erosion of
trust in a
society,
social capital
will wither
away and die.
Social capital
is the glue
that binds the
human capital
together and
it provides
the cultural
networking
that reminds
us of our duty
to society”.

Writing a
paper for
UNESCO on the
topic
“Cultural
Policy in
Guyana”
(1977), Arthur
James Seymour,
then Director
of Creative
Writing in the
Institute of
Creative Arts
of the
National
History and
Arts Council
of Guyana, (is
this still in
existence?)
wrote: “ The
main purpose
of the
National
Service Scheme
planned as a
mobilization
of human
resources to
supplement the
education
system, is to
ensure that
all Guyanese
become aware
of the new
values of the
independent
society and
understand the
relationship
between
society and
themselves; to
provide
additional
training and
development of
skills in
appropriate
instances; to
place emphasis
on the
practical
approach in
training and
provide for
the
opportunity
for on-the-job
learning. At
the same time
National
Service
enables the
government to
bring under
control the
untapped
resources of
the hinterland
in a planned
and deliberate
fashion”.

It is useful
to remind that
in the 1970s
the platform
on which
national
development
strategy was
being crafted
and pursued
by the
Government of
Forbes Burnham
had a number
of planks,
five of which
I wish to
reflect on
briefly:

1. Evolving a
National
Identity – we
are all
Guyanese- One
People, One
Nation with
One Destiny.
The collective
observances of
national
religious
holidays and
festivals; the
intellectual
and cultural
ferment of the
first
Carifesta in
1972; the
inculcation of
attitudes and
knowledge
among our
youth
population of
the symbols of
nationhood and
of the
history,
geography and
beauty of
Guyana.

2. Promoting
National Self
Reliance – the
Development
Plan of 1972
crafted under
the hand of a
late
distinguished
colleague and
dear friend Dr
Kenneth King,
was based on
the objective
to ‘Feed,
House and
Clothe the
nation by
1976’.The
establishment
of research
and
development
facilities
under the
leadership of
Dr Neville
Trotz, at the
Institute of
Science and
Technology,
where training
in the
construction
of the 25 and
50 cubic
metres of
biogas
digesters and
solar driers
and in the use
of kaolin for
manufacture of
chalk, clay
bricks for
housing, road
and bridge
construction
and use of
natural
products such
as palm oil
and organic
dyes, were all
exciting
developments.
The Carnegie
School of Home
Economics and
other public
and private
agencies were
experimenting
with the
processing of
local rice and
cassava flour,
candied fruit
such as the
carambola,
jams, jellies,
wine, the
canning of
fish and the
local
pharmaceutical
industry
patented
products such
as Limacol.
The design of
prefab houses,
the
establishment
of the Santa
Textile Mill
and the clay
brick factory
were serious
attempts to
reduce imports
and develop
locally
produced raw
materials into
value added
products. The
bold decision
to establish
the GNS as an
instrument for
effecting the
transformation
from
dependency to
self-reliance
should
therefore be
seen within
the context of
the execution
of this
Development
Plan

3. Enhancing
National
Defence
capability or
Defence in
Depth – the
concept of
every citizen
a soldier
because of the
perceived
designs on our
territory and
the relevance
and cost
effectiveness
of adopting a
posture of
defence and
development
patterned
somewhat along
the lines of
the kibbutz in
Israel. In
fact we had
visits here
from an
Israeli
adviser in the
early 1960s
and a visit to
Israel by the
then Chief of
Staff of the
GDF, Brigadier
Clarence
Price. The
national
service
centres
dispersed
throughout the
country
bridged the
divide between
the coast and
the interior
and were
catalysts and
facilitators
for the
delivery of
goods and
services to
hinterland
communities
using its land
and river
logistic craft
and its ocean
going vessel,
the MV Jaimito.
These centres
were also
available to
the Defence
Force as firm
bases from
which to
launch out on
operations
when necessary
with the
augmentation
and support of
the military
component of
the GNS.

4. Expanding
the National
Development
Infrastructure
– construction
of the roads,
ferries,
airstrips, the
Itaballi-Puruni
–Kurupung road
to support the
Upper Mazaruni
Hydro-Power
Site, the Self
Help road
which
attracted
hundreds of
volunteers
locally and
from the
Caribbean was
being
constructed
from Mahdia
through North
Fork and the
Burro Burro to
connect with
the Rupununi
cattle trail.
These along
with the
upgrading of
trails leading
to national
service
centres
facilitated
easier
movement and
demographic
shifts based
on perceived
economic
opportunities
and the
reassurance of
support from
the GNS
centres
especially
medical
attention,
availability
of fresh food
supplies for
purchase, and
radio
communication
facilities.

5.
Strengthening
and deepening
the
multilateral
relationships
among
nonaligned and
friendly
States. This
was a
strategic move
on the part of
Forbes Burnham
to ensure
international
support for
the
inviolability
of our
territory as
well as to
share
experiences in
keeping with
South South
Cooperation.
The GNS played
an important
role in the
International
Association of
National
Services
Organisations
and
facilitated
exchange
programmes in
a variety of
disciplines-training,
music,
production,
catering,
appropriate
technology,
printing and
publishing and
sports.

In all of
these national
programmes and
projects, the
Guyana
National
Service played
a pivotal
role-its
cultural
activities
that produced
poets,
artistes,
sculptors,
artists and
musicians; its
agricultural
and other
production
oriented
enterprises;
its military
training to
augment in
times of
crisis the
Defence Force;
and its role
in
infrastructure
development
associated
with the many
hinterland-based
centres.
Integral to
all of these
was the
cross-cutting
theme of
inculcating
the
discipline,
physical
toughness,
skills
competence,
mental
agility,
socialization
and teamwork
to pioneer
development in
the
intermediate
savannahs and
the hinterland
and to give
some purpose
and meaning to
their lives.

Colonel
Desmond
Roberts, my
predecessor in
office, said
at the end of
his stint in
1981:“We
taught young
people how to
accept hard
work and
challenges as
part of
national
development.
We taught them
to overcome
the problems
in their lives
by imparting
certain
toughness and
we taught them
to love their
country. We
have managed
to bring
people of all
races together
from all parts
of the country
and they have
a greater
appreciation
and love for
each other
having shared
so many
experiences
together
whether happy
or difficult”.

Historians and
the analysts
will continue
to pronounce
on aspects of
nation-building
and provide
their
perspectives
and evaluation
of the
leadership and
policies
pursued by
successive
administrations
since
independence.
Ravi Dev for
example on
National
Culture and
Identity
wrote: “At
Independence
Guyanese
inherited a
State but not
a Nation,
since the
reality of
their coming
together
ensured that
they had no
common
culture. The
challenge
would be to
construct a
‘unity’ of the
peoples within
the Guyanese
State that
does not seek
to obliterate
the
diversities
but is more
receptive and
accommodative
to self
conceptions-“Accommodate
diversity
without
fostering
disunity”.

As we look at
where we are
35 years
later, we
have
variations in
the
geopolitical,
socio-economic
and cultural
landscape,
different
personalities
in leadership
positions,
expectations
shaped by the
information
super-highway
and
technological
developments,
attitudes
influenced by
rights-based
advocacy,
religious and
cultural
evolutions and
revolutions,
value systems
fueled by
rampant
consumerism
and the
erosion of the
core values
enshrined in
the Charter
for Civil
Society and
its associated
stable
institutions,
viable
communities,
cohesive
family units,
respect for
law and order
and for the
environment in
which we live.

In reflecting
on the Guyana
National
Service:
Burnham’s
Vision-35
years after,
there is no
doubt in my
mind that
adherence to
the same
drivers of
strategy in
the 1970s is
very much
needed and
indeed this
being
articulated in
one form or
another by our
current
leadership-
perhaps under
different
captions:

1. Evolving a
National
Identity
remains a
challenge.
Among our
younger
generation,
knowledge of
our history,
geography,
biodiversity,
heroes and
heroines seem
shallow. We
are lacking in
a sense of
commitment to
Guyana, in
respect for
its
institutions,
for the
sanctity of
life and
public
property, in a
feeling of
pride in the
symbols of
nationhood.
Our
indiscipline
and
selfishness
are manifested
in the
appalling
scenes of
litter in
public places,
in many of our
schools’compounds
and in the way
we use our
roads, in the
stealing of
electricity,
waste of water
and vandalism
of our
telecommunication
infrastructure.

We cannot be
serious about
Guyana as a
tourist
destination if
it is first
impressions
that will
motivate
tourists and
tour operators
to come to
Guyana. Our
Diaspora show
a greater
commitment to
the Motherland
than many of
us who live
here.

2. Promoting
National Self
Reliance has
come full
circle with
the emphasis
on food
security “Grow
More Food
Campaign”, use
of appropriate
technology;
encouraging a
revival of the
spirit of
volunteerism.
Revisiting the
structure and
functioning of
community and
village
councils that
are empowered
to manage
their
resources,
are aspects
that hinge on
the
availability
of cadres of
trained
persons
equipped with
the relevant
leadership and
skills to
ensure
sustainability
of the various
processes
associated
with
self-reliance.

3. National
Defence Our
preoccupation
in the 1970s
with ensuring
and
safeguarding
of our
territorial
integrity
(which require
renewed
analysis and
contingencies,
given the
substantial
upgrading and
re-arming of
our western
neighbour’s
armed forces)
has been
displaced by
the
understandable
emphasis on
curbing the
relatively
high incidence
of violent
crime, abuse
of women and
children,
alcoholism,
drug
addiction,
traffic
violations and
manifestations
of
dysfunctionalities
in the society
as a
consequence of
the trade in
narcotic
substances,
proliferation
of unlicensed
weapons,
money-laundering
and corrupt
practices.

Infusing
professionalism
in the
security
sector, coping
with the
continuing
migration of
skills,
building
capacity to
provide
trainers in
most
disciplines,
including
sports and
culture and
stemming the
worrying
decline in
functional
literacy among
vulnerable
segments of
the
population,
are areas
where an
adapted form
of national
service can be
an instrument
for revival of
standards, for
inculcating a
spirit of
volunteerism
akin to the
Special
Service Corps
of the GNS,
for rebuilding
the social
fabric of our
society and
for providing
a safety net
for those
vulnerable
youth who are
not
necessarily
included in
the more
conventional
remedial and
vocational
education
programmes.

4. In
enhancing
Infra-structure
for National
Development,
while
acknowledging
the several
projects
(bridges,
hydropower,
roads, D&I
works) in the
pipeline or
being
implemented,
we are also
factoring in
the likely
impacts of
climate change
and the
fragility of
our coastal
defences. The
paucity of
skills for
construction
and
maintenance
are a worrying
factor that
must be
addressed.
Here again an
adapted form
of national
service can be
of relevance
to national
development.

The late
President
Jagan, while
Leader of the
Opposition in
1987, accepted
my invitation
to visit the
NOC and said
after his
visit that “I
am glad that
efforts are
being made to
rehabilitate
and develop
the young
people. We
like all
patriotic
Guyanese would
like to see
our country
move forward
both for human
dignity and
economic
freedom”. He
followed up
this visit
with a request
to meet with
the
Directorate of
the GNS and
during this
meeting
indicated his
acceptance of
the
organization
but was
particularly
interested in
whether the
service
functioned
within the
framework of a
National Plan.

Speaking at
the PNC’s 13th
Biennial
Congress 16-18
August 2002,
the late
President Hugh
Desmond Hoyte,
SC said and I
quote” Too
many young
people are
leaving school
without being
able to gain
employment and
without
skills. The
reintroduction
of the
National
Service, with
the element of
compulsion
removed, would
seem to be a
desirable
initiative for
imparting
appropriate
skills and
attitudes and
inculcating a
spirit of
confidence and
adventure in
our young
people”.

A week before
he passed
away,
President
Burnham paid
his final
visit to
Kimbia, the
birthplace of
the Guyana
National
Service in
1974.As I
drove with him
touring the
extensive
cotton, black
eye and peanut
cultivations
stretching
away towards
Kurubuku, with
the families
of Settlement
A looking on
at the convoy
of vehicles, I
believe he
indulged in
some
satisfaction
that the
Vision of 1973
was coming
into fruition-
albeit slowly
but surely.
The evidence
was before us:
land that was
scrub and
savannah 12
years before
was supporting
a thriving
centre
populated by
hundreds of
staff and
pioneers, a
major
agricultural
production
base with
processing
facilities for
cotton and
peanuts, a
primary
school, day
care centre,
medical
centre,
housing and
other
facilities for
staff and
manifesting
the profile of
an evolving
township. I am
sure that
embedded in
his psyche as
it related to
the GNS was
the service’s
motto: “What
the mind of
man can
conceive and
believe, he
can achieve!”

In reflecting
therefore on
the Vision of
35 years ago,
the concept
that applied
then to nation
building and
the
mobilization
of the
energies of
our youth
through the
instrument of
national
service has in
my opinion an
application to
our present
circumstances.
It is
therefore
recommended
that in our
communities,
regions and at
the national
level we look
seriously and
dispassionately
at the lessons
learnt,
drawing from
the
experiences of
those who
passed through
this
institution
and, armed
with the
facts, engage
in dialogue
and debate to
evolve an
adaptation of
the national
service as one
preferred
option toward
resolving some
of the
pressing
issues of our
time.

Spirits were high and expectations soared (early that morning) as Guyanese in their usual hospitable fashion anxiously awaited the arrival of their relatives and friends at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on 07/30/2011.

Caribbean Airlines flight 525 left John F Kennedy International Airport, made one stop in Trinidad before proceeding to its final destination Timehri Guyana. The first leg of the trip was successful, but unfortunately the second leg ended tragically when the aircraft instead of a graceful landing at CJIA, landed heavily on the tarmac and over shot the runway, plunged to the ground leaving a broken plane, scores of injured passengers and many unanswered questions. The usual hearty cheers of the passengers on arrival at CJIA quickly changed to screams as they recognized that the aircraft had come to a sharp halt and had broken apart.

As onlookers stood horrified at the sight, passengers and crew were hurried off the ill-fated aircraft to safer grounds. Fortunately, there were no fatalities or very serious injuries. You can access photographs and video recordings on this website of the aircraft at the crash site. We will provide updates as information becomes available. The National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) - the US agency that investigates all crashes, especially involving US aircraft, is collecting data to produce a comprehensive report on the cause of the crash. The black box with all the recorded flight data has been recovered. [Details of this crash now known to all can be easily obtained].

President Desmond Roberts, the executive and the entire membership of the National Service Association of North America Inc. are deeply saddened by this misfortune but grateful that there was no loss of life or grave injuries and wish both the crew and passengers of flight CA 525 a quick and successful recovery.